1994 Scorecard Vote

Food Safety

Issue: Toxics/Public Right to Know

In what they claimed was an effort to ""reform"" the nation's safe food and pesticide laws Reps. Richard Lehman (D-CA), Thomas Bliley (R-VA), and J. Roy Rowland (D-GA) introduced the Food Safety Act (H.R. 1627). In fact, the proposal would substantially weaken two major laws that protect people and the environment from unnecessary pesticide use and pesticide residues on food: the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Among other problems, the Food Safety Act makes no effort to reduce pesticide use or protect children from pesticides in food, despite a recent National Academy of Sciences report that calls for greater protections for this sensitive group.

The League of Conservation Voters considers cosponsoring H.R. 1627 to be an anti-environmental action. So far, 224 lawmakers have cosponsored the bill.